ITV

Tag: Akram

  • ESS re-launches ‘SportsCenter’ with Akram as host

    MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has re-launched its sports news bulletin, SportsCenter in Hindi. Former Pakistan speedster Wasim Akram will be the show’s new host.

    The programme will air every weeknight at 8 pm on ESPN. Akram is part of ESS’ Few Good Men commentary team. The channel states that Akram’s contribution as a judge was appreciated by viewers and participants during the famous reality show Harsha Ki Khoj.

    In his new role as the host and anchor of SportsCenter, Akram will be assisted by co-anchors Poonam Sharma and Darain Shahidi and a team of in-house reporters.

    SportCenter is produced from ESS’ 46,000 sq ft production facility in Singapore. SportCenter accesses sports news clippings from ESPN Sportscenter, SNTV (Sports News Television) – a leading provider of sports news clippings, and Sky Sports. In addition to the international news, India-related news will be handled with resources placed in India.

  • Showdiff Worldwide ropes in Akram, Botham & Lamb

    MUMBAI: After roping in actor Raveena Tandon and cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle for Zydus Cadilla’s Sugar Free; Rediffusion DYR and Ravi Shastri’s joint venture Showdiff Worldwide has now announced that they will exclusively manage veteran international cricketers Wasim Akram, Ian Botham and Alan Lamb.

    Showdiff Worldwide has tied up with a UK based company Honey Deal which possesses the worldwide rights for Akram, Botham and Lamb and will henceforth exclusively manage these cricketers in India. Showdiff Worldwide vice president Jaiveer Panwar says, “The Indian market and flavour beats any other market. As long as this deal is giving back something to the sports fraternity and the consumers it is good.”
    Wasim Akram, Ian Botham & Alan Lamb

    Akram, Botham and Lamb will soon be seen endorsing various brands. “Various commercial activities will be launched shortly with them,” said Panwar. However, he did not divulge any details of the ‘commercial activities’. “I am not in a position to talk about anything right now. As and when the client is ready to launch the campaigns, we will talk about it,” he added.

    Speaking about the USP and brand value of these cricketers (who have long since retired) to the Indian market, Panwar said, “These seasoned cricketers have a great margin over others by what they can give back to the cricket fraternity in terms of coaching inputs. They are all very good speakers and can give the new generation of cricketers invaluable advice due to their long association with the game. This will be a way for them to give back something to the game that has given them name and fame.”

    Showdiff Worldwide’s contract with the cricketers will (like most other contracts) last for a year. “As of now, they will be with us for a year as per the terms of the contract, but our endeavour always is to work on a long term basis. We will see how things are after a year,” said Panwar.

    Seems somewhat odd that no Indian cricketer has been roped in by Showdiff Worldwide along with Akram, Lamb and Botham, because at the end of the day they will be endorsing brands in India. “As of now we have not roped in any Indian cricketer. But we are ready to work with anybody,” Panwar said. Well, until that happens, it remains to be seen how much the Indian consumer connects with Akram, Botham and Lamb.

  • Kenya will fill SA shoes at Sharjah Cup

    MUMBAI: The Sharjah Cup will take place at the original venue notwithstanding the Iraq Conflict. South Africa, one of the teams originally scheduled to participate in the triangular, has pulled out citing security concerns. Surprise World Cup semi finalist Kenya will replace them.
    This year’s Cherry Blossom Sharjah Cup from 3-10 April takes place under the stadium’s lights. Pakistan’s new captain is Rashid Latif . They also have a new coach in Javed Miandad who must be hoping that the team finds some of the form it showed in 1999 when it finished runner up at the World Cup edition in England.
    Readers will recall that at this month’s World Cup in South Africa, Kenya defeated two of the other teams who will participate at Sharjah, namely Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Pakistan is in a bit of a mess right now with Akram, Akhtar and company having been given the boot. Therefore, this is another golden opportunity for Steve Tikolo’s minnows to cement their position in international one day cricket.
    Sri Lanka reached the semi finals of the World Cup and have retained captain Sanath Jayasuriya to lead their team and defend their trophy after last year’s victory over Pakistan.
    Presented by former Indian star Sanjay Manjrekar, the commentary team will steer us through 10 hours a day of live coverage from the stadium.

    The programme lineup is as follows

    Date Match
    3 April Pakistan vs Zimbabwe
    4 April Pakistan vs Sri Lanka
    5 April Zimbabwe vs Kenya
    6 April Sri Lanka vs Kenya
    7 April Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe
    8 April Pakistan vs Kenya
    10 April Final

  • ‘Qaawali Muqabla’ as ‘Heena’ completes four years

    MUMBAI: Heena, one of the longest running soaps on Sony, has just completed four years on air. The serial produced by Rakhee Tandon, is a story of a girl unlucky in love, will celebrate completion of its fourth year by airing a special ‘qawaali muqabla’ coming Friday.
    According to an official release, all the characters of Heena will get together for a fun-filled night of ‘qawaali’ and ‘shero-shaiari’. The ‘qawaali muqabla’ will be incorporated in the story line.


    Heena is based on the good ole’ concept of bad versus good. The story so far goes as follows: Ruby the negative lead of Heena has managed to oust Heena – the protagonist and first wife of her husband Akram out of the house. The forthcoming episode will showcase a tussle between Heena’s team (good) and Ruby’s team (evil) during the ‘qawaali’.